Where everything faded and drifted and took old shape.
Where dreams possessed and nightmares haunted.
Where the here and now and the past intertwined. Where they merged and crossed and slayed.
Where grief whispered and crawled and sucked the life from the air.
Where I had no idea what time it was when I jolted awake. When I heard the muted roar. A roar of pain. A cry of agony.
And I wasn’t sure if it was his or if it was mine.
THREE
JUD
It didn’t matter that it wasn’t even eight in the morning, heavy metal blared from the speakers that hung at each corner of the soaring ceiling of Iron Ride.
Had slept like shit last night, tossing and turning with the thought of Salem in the room right next to me, that fiery wildcat who could so easily get under my skin.
Apparently, the only thing it took was a hot-as-hades stranger standing wet in my living room to make me lose my mind. My rationale. My sense and reason.
My purpose.
So, I’d gone and done something so ridiculous as tell her I wanted to get to know her.
Seriously fucked up.
A chuckle of disbelief rolled up my throat as I studied the piece of metal on the worktable.
What did I think? She was going to get to know me and be cool with who I was? And why the fuck had I even suggested it? Thought for a second that I wanted it?
I knew firsthand it didn’t go down like that. The second I’d let it slip from my mouth, I’d known I was setting myself a trap. That it ran contrary to everything I knew. Everything I was striving for.
But still, it’d been there, tangled in my guts—interest—and not just in that tight little body.
At least the girl’d had a little sense and shot that shit down, but still, it’d left me rattled, my dick hard and my brain mottled as I’d slunk away to my room, hoping by shutting myself behind my bedroom door, I might be able to shut off thoughts of her.
Hardly.
I’d finally given up when the sun breaking at the horizon had snatched the darkness from my room. I’d pulled on some clothes and made my way down to the shop.
Had plenty to do, anyway, so it didn’t hurt to get a jump start on my day.
Besides, Iron Ride was where I found my peace. Where I created beauty when my past life had created devastation.
It was where I welded and sanded and painted and rebuilt. Brought back to life the worn and run-down. The dilapidated and decayed. Priceless gems left to rot in backyards and in forgotten lots. Cars and bikes that I would take back to bare bones, then restore them to a newfound glory.
Art manifested of my hands.
Dirty hands that I was doing my best to make clean.
I got lost in it. Entranced in it.
Ears full of the pounding, thrashing beat, I watched through my protective mask as fire scored through metal. Sparks flew and spit as I made the precision cut.
I was hyper-focused, though somehow enthralled by the movements, like my soul had jumped in on the revelry.
I heaved out the breath I’d been holding when the metal for the bike fender finally cut apart, the tension bound in my muscles draining away. I shut off the torch so I could study my handiwork. My finger covered by a leather glove glided over the cut.
Ensuring perfection.
Nothing less was tolerated in my shop.
The only thing going out these doors was going to be spectacular.
Awe-inspiring.
I mean, fuck, I’d made old bikers weep when they’d come to claim their ride. If a man shed a tear or two when he saw his beast for the first time? That shit was a win.
When I heard the rumble of a truck come into the lot, I tossed off my gloves and moved for the open bay where Brock eased in the tow. He pulled horizontal to the building before he put it into reverse and backed it in. He left the engine idling when he hopped out the driver’s door and came striding my way. “Yo, boss. This it?”
His voice was pure speculation. Like I hadn’t given a specific description of the car and directions to where it was sitting.
“That’s it.”
He shook his shaved blond head, a grin spreading to his face as he pushed the button to lower the lift.
Brock had been the first mechanic I’d brought onto my team. Dude was quick with a wrench and possessed this natural instinct with diagnosing issues. Swore the asshole could get an engine that had been rusting for twenty years out in a deserted field to spark.
He also ran his mouth twenty-four seven.
“This a joke? A test? Or is business runnin’ dry and you’re getting desperate? Thought we were booked solid for a year?”
Considering it was Saturday and we were all working double-time to keep up with the workload, the answer to that was obvious.
“Helping out a friend,” I said, giving him a look that told him the reason the car was there was none of his concern.
“She pretty?” he cracked.
“That required to do something nice?” I growled. Had to restrain myself from punching the scrawny punk in his smug face. But that would probably lay him out for the week, and I needed him on a ’63 Ford pickup that was set to roll next month.
He shrugged. “Hey, man, I just know what it takes to get a spot here, and you have me rollin’ up with an old sedan? You must be getting something out of it.”
I ignored him, and instead, I turned my attention to watch as Darius made a left into the lot in his black pickup truck.
Darius had only been with us for the last month. Guy was the opposite of Brock. Quiet and intense. Tatted and hard and nearly as big as me. Lost in thought most of the time, though he got the job done. He was a basic technician that’d come from one of the dealerships, but he was hungry to learn, and I was desperate for help.
Like Brock had said, we were booked a solid year, and I was turning away clients left and right.
Brock was moving to unlatch the chains on Salem’s car when Darius came to a stop and jumped out of his truck. “What’s going on?”
He stormed across the lot, his attention locked on the sedan.
Awesome.
I was gonna get shit from him, too.
Then I was stilling, tingles rushing my flesh as a shock of energy came blasting through the shop. As fierce as the storm from last night. I eased around to find Salem coming down the stairs from my loft above.
The breath knocked from my lungs.
Fuck me.
This girl was even prettier than I’d remembered from last night.
Crazy hot.
Wicked sexy.
Back in her clothes she’d been wearing last night, though her face was bare, and all that black hair was piled in a crazy knot on her head.
Nothing but a perfect fantasy floating down from my loft.
Figured it’d been the storm that had left that feeling zinging in the air, and it would have disappeared this morning.
This connection that made me want to explore something I knew damned well I shouldn’t explore.
Couldn’t explore.
But it was there, pulling through the atmosphere, vibrating along this invisible band that had us tied.
Neither of us could look away.
Thunderbolt eyes speared me from across the space, piercing me through and holding me hostage.
Wondered if anyone else noticed, the way we just fuckin’ stared.
Tangled in a beat.
Held in a moment.
Something powerful lit in my veins.
Need.
Possession.
Girl was nothing but an enchantress.
Black-fuckin’-magic.